Kindle E-Books on the Cheap: A Weekly Selection (4 Jan 2009)

Once you've purchased an Amazon Kindle e-book reader, the wonderful world of public domain, Creative Commons and free e-book promotions opens up to you. In this weekly Kindle Reader feature, I point you to a few of the most interesting new free (or very cheap) e-books available for download from the web.

Free e-book selections for this week include a collection of old-time pulp detective fiction (including The Assistant Murderer by Dashiell Hammett), a book of invaluable techniques for writers wishing to use social media to publicize their books on the Web, a sarcastic romp into the world of corporate librarianship (think Dilbert or Office Space) and an historical romance novel set in late 19th century New York City.

Murder by Design, edited by Dr. Drib. MYSTERY FICTION. Download site: MobileRead. Format: MOBI/PRC. Price: Free.
"This anthology celebrates Murder in both story titles and in body count, thus doubling your pleasure. Most of the writers here are 'unknowns,' but that shouldn’t deter you. If you want some detective action and adventure, with bullets flying all over the page, then you should find a great deal of pleasure in reading these forgotten stories. Here you’ll find wise-cracking detectives, bullet-faced criminals, and curvy molls. All these characters create a crazy mix of entertainment and sometimes unintentional zaniness. Look, as well, for the ever-present convertible." - Introduction by Dr. Drib.

Plug Your Book! Online Book Marketing for Authors, Book Publicity through Social Networking, by Steve Weber. NONFICTION. Download site: Feedbooks. Format: Mobipocket/Kindle.
"...The one book every author needs to read. I don't care if you're writing a computer book, a science fiction novel or the next great self-help guide, you need to get copy..." - Joe Wikert, executive publisher, John Wiley & Sons.

Obnoxious Librarian from Hades, by Dennie Heye. SATIRE. Download site: Feedbooks. Format: Mobipocket/Kindle. Price: Free.
"Satire from a librarian in a large bureaucracy, trying to surving boring meetings, clueless managers, reorganisations, offshored helpdesks and l-users (library users)." - Feedbooks.
Updates on the author's adventures in corporate librarianship are available at The Obnoxious Librarian from Hades blog.

The Rat Catcher, by Kate Rothwell. HISTORICAL ROMANCE NOVEL. Download site: Author's blog. Format: PDF. Price: Free.
Kindle readers: click on the graphic in the upper right corner of the page to download the book as a PDF file. Send to your Amazon Kindle account for conversion into Kindle format. The conversion worked fine for me. If you don't own a Kindle, you can purchase a print edition of The Rat Catcher from Lulu.
"A gaslight historical romance set in 1884 New York City. Innocent Callie Scott lived a sheltered life until she is trapped in a raid on a house of ill-repute. That's only the start of her run of bad-luck. Two days later, she must turn to help from the same detective who has already witnessed her at her worst: tipsy and behaving like a fool. Officer Cutter doesn't need the complication of a well-bred innocent in his life, but he still finds himself offering her a job. He discovers he must now act as protector to the same young lady he desires--and who wants him." - Lulu.